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Jiaozhou Bay/Qingdao-Haiwan Bridge, China. Photo: Feel the Planet (feel-planet.com). The Labour-led government in New Zealand has settled on a new mantra when it comes to addressing the US-China rivalry. It claims that New Zealand is ideally situated to become a bridge between the two great powers and an honest broker when it comes to […]

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meets with Fijian Prime Minister Voreque “Frank” Bainimarama. Source: Fiji Ministry of Foreign Affairs Last week Fiji took delivery of a shipment of Russian weapons that were “donated” by Russia pursuant to a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in February 2015. The Fijians say that the weapons are […]

News that Chinese hackers obtained personal details of 4 million US federal employees dating to 1985, following on the heels of similar attacks on the customer records of private insurance companies and retirement funds as well as the internal email networks of the US State Department and White House, demonstrate that a guerrilla cyber-war is […]

Although 36th Parallel Assessments is loathe to prognosticate on fluid situations and current events,we have been thinking about how the conflict in Iraq has been going. Althoughwe do not believe that the Islamic State (IS) is anywhere close to being the global threat that it is portrayed to be in the West, we do believe […]

Photo: Evgenly Maloleka. The chaotic state of contemporary international affairs demonstrates the serious limitations of constructivism and idealism as theoretical frameworks for the analysis of global macro-dynamics. The former claims that the construction of international institutions helps universalise common values and mores, thereby leading to improved interstate relations under supranational (international organisation) guidance and enforcement. […]

Paul G. Buchanan interviewed on The Nation regarding potential Chinese cyber espionage and New Zealand’s ability to defend against it. This week the US launched a fresh attack on Chinese telecommunication companies. A congressional committee issued a warning to companies in the US, saying Huawei and ZTE may be a front for Chinese spying, and […]

Analytic Brief: A Romney Foreign Policy in the Southwestern Pacific. Analysis – By Dr. Paul G. Buchanan. Introduction: 36th Parallel Assessments Founding Partner Dr. Paul G. Buchanan has been traveling in the US for a month. He has had an opportunity to observe the US election campaign from both coasts, and in this brief discusses the […]

Afghanistan: Beefing Up In Order To Leave Analysis – By Dr Paul G. Buchanan. In the wake of the most recent NZDF deaths in Bamiyan Province, the New Zealand Prime Minister has decided to accelerate the timetable for withdrawal of NZDF from the Bamiyan Provincial Reconstruction Team to April 2013. After that the PRT will […]

Analysis: A different type of BRIC (Australia in comparative perspective). In this installment of the 36th Parallel series of analytic briefs, the focus is on Australia compared to other rising middle powers, including three of the BRICs: Brazil, Russia, India. Analysis – By Dr. Paul G. Buchanan. Although it may irk the okkers, Australia can […]

The Pacific Fibre Issue – Has The US Gone Too Far? Analysis – By Selwyn Manning. On Thursday morning Interest.co.nz‘s Alex Tarrant reported that the Kiwi Pacific Fibre cable project was sunk by US fears about Chinese investment, and espionage. Interest.co.nz‘s main contact was New Zealand-based invester Rod Drury who said: “It was made clear […]